CHAPTER 4

Check the Ego

Jocko Willink

CAMP CORREGIDOR, RAMADI, IRAQ: WELCOME TO RAMADI
Enemy tracer rounds were zipping overhead as I raced up the stairs to the
third-story rooftop of our tactical operations center (TOC) building. Our
camp was under attack. I hadn’t even had time to fasten my body armor.
When the shooting started, I grabbed my helmet and rifle, slung my
load-bearing equipment over my shoulders, and headed for the roof.
SEALs were arriving by the dozen, some in flip-flops with only shorts
and T-shirts under their body armor, but helmets on and weapons at the
ready.
Just across the river, in the darkness, enemy fighters had unleashed
heavy volleys of machine gun fire on two separate U.S. outposts and the
American Soldiers were returning fire with a vengeance. The bright glow
of tracer fire was evident in both directions. Another group of enemy
fighters had engaged our camp and were hammering our TOC building
with gunfire from the far bank of the Euphrates River.
But they hadn’t counted on the response. Within minutes, every Navy
SEAL in Task Unit Bruiser and several of our non-SEAL support